A/HRC/29/23 62. Private and State agents target “pride” marches, where LGBT persons and their supporters are sometimes subjected to violence and harassment.109 In some States, such events are denied police protection or permits, sometimes under guise of threats to public morals or safety, abrogating the State’s duty to uphold freedom of assembly and to protect LGBT persons from violence.110 In the absence of proper police protection, marchers have been physically attacked and harassed by State and non-State actors, including far-right “skinhead” groups.111 63. Women defenders and those advocating for gender- and sexuality-related rights are often at particular risk because they are seen as challenging traditional assumptions about the role and status of women in society. 112 6. Asylum and migration 64. Asylum and migration policies in this context vary considerably. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that some 42 States have granted asylum to individuals with a well-founded fear of persecution owing to sexual orientation or gender identity. At international borders, migrants and refugees may be subjected to invasive physical screenings and examinations and denied entry on discriminatory grounds.113 65. Practices in States granting asylum sometimes fall short of international standards. Officials may be insensitive to the conditions facing LGBT asylum-seekers, and review of applications is sometimes arbitrary and inconsistent. 114 In its judgement of 2 December 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union ordered States to cease use of intrusive questioning and medical tests purportedly designed to reveal applicants’ sexual orientation. Refugees and migrants are sometimes subjected to violence and discrimination while in detention facilities,115 and when resettled, may be housed within communities where they experience additional sexuality- and gender-related risks. The refoulement of asylum seekers fleeing such persecution exposes them to the risk of violence, discrimination, criminalization and the death penalty.116 7. Family and community 66. States’ responsibility to protect individuals from discrimination extends to the family sphere, where rejection and discriminatory treatment of and violence against LGBT and intersex family members can have serious, negative consequences for the enjoyment of human rights. Examples include individuals being physically assaulted, raped, excluded from family homes, disinherited, prevented from going to school, sent to psychiatric institutions, forced to marry, forced to give up custody of their children, punished for activist work and subjected to attacks on personal reputation. In States where homosexuality is criminalized, victims may be reluctant to report violence perpetrated by a 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 See A/HRC/23/34, paras. 49-50, A/HRC/26/36/Add.2, paras. 43-45. CCPR/C/109/D/1873/2009, para. 9.6, A/HRC/23/49/Add.4, para. 22. See A/HRC/10/12/Add.1, paras. 275-280, A/HRC/11/4/Add.1, paras. 289-2294, A/HRC/16/44/Add.1, paras. 1157–1164. See A/HRC/22/47/Add.1, para. 88, and “Study on the situation of women human rights defenders in Africa”, Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, 2015. A/69/CRP.1, p. 15. UNHCR, HCR/GIP/12/09 (see footnote 8). See A/HRC/22/53/Add.4, para. 178. See CCPR/C/108/D/2149/2012, para 2.4, CCPR/C/103/D/1833/2008, para. 9.2. 17